Crandall, Iverson bound over for trial in shooting

In the early morning hours of Feb. 4, 24-year-old Trevor Wakefield was shot in a home on North Alleghany. He later died at a Wichita hospital.

Jessica Seibel and Julie Clements

In the early morning hours of Feb. 4, 24-year-old Trevor Wakefield was shot in a home on North Alleghany. He later died at a Wichita hospital.

On Wednesday, a preliminary hearing was held for Montee Iverson and Mandy Crandall, who were arrested after the shooting.

Several times during the hearing, Iverson became emotional and was asked to be quiet.

Iverson’s original charge of attempted second degree murder was amended to second degree murder, as well as aggravated assault and possession of a handgun while being a convicted felon. Crandall is charged with fleeing and eluding officers and obstructing the apprehension of a felon

First to take the witness stand was El Dorado Police Detective Maggie Shriver.

She helped execute a search warrant at the home on Feb. 4. She discussed evidence found in the home, including blood, pills, notebooks, pocket knives and loose ammunition.

She also took photographs of the exterior of the home.

During Shriver’s testimony, Butler County Assistant Attorney Joseph Penney asked Shriver to draw a diagram layout of the house where the shooting occurred on a white board in the courtroom.

Penney then showed Shriver five photographs of the home and asked her to verify the photos as accurate representations of the home.

She affirmed they were, and Satterfield allowed the five photos to be admitted as evidence.

Shriver also said she went to the hospital where Wakefield was before he died and spoke with members of his family.

She was also present during Wakefield’s autopsy.

“I observed what appeared to be two holes at the top of Trevor Wakefield’s head,” she said. “The first hole appeared to be an entry wound and the second appeared to be an exit wound.”

Crandall’s legal counsel, Nika Cummings, did not have any questions for Shriver.

Iverson’s legal counsel, James Watts, asked Shriver to revisit the number of people in the room during the shooting. According to Shriver, there were six people present, including Wakefield, Crandall and Iverson.

Watts asked Shriver if she was able to determine whether or not anyone else was in the home at the time of the shooting. She said detective Jeffrey Murphy was responsible for that part of the investigation.

Murphy, who worked as the lead detective on the case, interviewed nine people.

Penney asked Murphy about his interview with Eden Bloom, girlfriend of Trevor’s father Mark Wakefield, who said she was in the room at the time of the shooting.

Murphy spoke with Bloom twice. During the fist interview, Murphy learned Trevor Wakefield had been holding a knife and was whittling or cutting on something he was holding in his hand.

“Trevor Wakefield had a box cutter and Montee Iverson confronted Trevor about that,” said Murphy.

According to Bloom, Iverson asked Wakefield to put the knife down. Wakefield didn’t, and then Iverson shot Wakefield in the head.

Following the shooting, Murphy said, Iverson, Crandall and a man named Matthew left quickly.

A Lexus sedan they were in was later spotted by Augusta Public Safety officers. Augusta officers attempted to stop the vehicle, but it fled. After initially losing track of the vehicle, officers found it in Cowley County.

Murphy later interviewed Crandall in El Dorado.

Watts objected to hearing parts of Crandall’s interview that related to his client, so Satterfield asked Murphy to only speak about what Crandall said about her involvement.

Likewise, Cummings asked information about Crandall from Murphy’s interview with Iverson not be discussed.

“She told me she was not in the residence at the time of the shooting,” said Murphy.

Murphy said Crandall told him she had gone outside to get cigarettes from a car and as she was walking back toward the house, others were leaving.

“The only thing she denied was being in the room at the time of the shooting,” said Murphy.

Murphy said Crandall was the one driving the car away from the scene.

During the course of his initial investigation, Murphy received information about the weapon that was thought to have been used in the crime.

A .22 caliber revolver was later found in the 1200 block of West 3rd Street.

Murphy said the gun had nine casings, and one shot had been fired.

According to Murphy, Iverson said he thought Wakefield was going to stab his friend with a knife and he didn’t remember shooting Wakefield.

Sweeney showed Kipper several autopsy photos and asked him to verify for the court that the photos were an accurate representation of Wakefield’s body.

Kipper noted soot and gun powder had been found on the dura, which is the lining between the skull and the brain.

Kipper is still waiting on Wakefield’s toxicology reports.

Kipper confirmed to Satterfield Wakefield’s death was caused by a gunshot wound to the head and the manner was homicide.

Neither Cummings nor Watts cross examined Kipper.

The next witness called was Eden Bloom.

She recounted the events of Feb. 3 and 4.

On the evening of the third, Mark Wakefield hosted a Super Bowl party. A few hours after the game, Bloom said Crandall arrived with two men.

Bloom identified one of the men as Iverson.

“We’re all kind of sitting there,” said Bloom. “At one point I was looking at my phone. He [Iverson] said something like, ‘Give me that.’ Trevor didn’t say anything back.”

Trevor Wakefield at that time had a knife in his hand.

“I remember looking up and [Iverson] kind of leaned across the bed and put [the gun] up to Trevor’s head,” said Bloom. “After it went off Trevor fell over the bed.”

Bloom said she stayed with him until paramedics arrived, and had pressed a towel to his head to try to stop the bleeding.

According to Bloom, Wakefield was not responsive during the time he spent at the hospital prior to his death.

She also said she had not heard any arguments prior to the shooting.

“I never heard them exchange words before then,” she said.

Following Penney’s questions, Cummings asked Bloom to again detail how Wakefield fell.

Watts then asked Bloom if Iverson had been to Mark Wakefield’s home before Feb. 4. Bloom replied that she had seen Iverson there at least once before.

The next witness to be called was Augusta Patrol Sergeant and K-9 Handler Eric McClusky.

He was on duty on Feb. 4 when he heard Butler County 911 dispatch an EMS to the report of a shooting in El Dorado at about 3 a.m.

He testified he had one of his officers on his team stay on 7th Street and he went to Ohio Street in case a vehicle description was given out.

McClusky noticed a vehicle about 15 minutes later driving southbound on Ohio Street at a “pretty good rate of speed.”

As the car crossed SW 70th, he pulled out to see what type of vehicle it was and ran the tag, which was registered out of Wichita.

“Based on the time of day and relationship to the time of the shooting, that caught my attention,” he said.

He attempted to stop the vehicle, which started to slow down, then took off. That led to a chase through Augusta that reached speeds of 78 to 83 miles per hour in 30 mile an hour zones. As they headed out of Augusta, they reached speeds of about 135 miles per hour and the chase continued until the officer slowed at some curves, then lost sight of the vehicle after it turned onto another road.

He testified he was later contacted by a deputy from Cowley County Sheriff’s Department that a female had shown up at a farm house.

He said she said she had been in a maroon Buick that belonged to a friend of hers and it crashed or overheated in a field.

McClusky said the silver Lexus was eventually found about a mile west of Atlanta and three miles south in a field.

The final witness was Richard Barns, brother of Wakefield.

When asked if he knew why he was here, Barns replied, “I’m here for the murder of my brother, Trevor.”

He described his actions at the house on Alleghany leading up to the shooting and what he observed.

He said Iverson had been sitting on a couch in the living room when he yelled for Matt to watch out for the guy behind him and he jumped up and ran into the bedroom.

“He says give me the knife and I heard someone say no,” Barns said. “I saw him reach into his hoody. After that I heard a pop, I thought was a firecracker.”

He said Iverson then ran out of the bedroom and pointed a gun at him and others in the living room.

When asked by Satterfield, he said he was scared for his life.

Then he testified he saw Matt, Iverson and Crandall leave the house.

On cross, he was questioned about if Crandall could have left the house earlier without him seeing, but he said no.

The state rested after this witness and neither defense counsel presented any evidence.

Satterfield then called for a 10 minute recess and asked for arguments from counsel placing Crandall behind the wheel and any statements on Iverson.

In regard to the evidence on flee and elude against Crandall, prosecution argued she had admitted to driving away from the house during her interview with police and said she ran from police because she was scared about the chase and what had happened at the house.

Crandall’s attorney said the Lexus was not registered to Crandall and no keys were found on her.

Satterfield said she found probable cause on both counts against Crandall, fleeing and eluding and obstructing the apprehension of a felon. Crandall entered a plea of not guilty. She will remain out on bond until her jury trial, which is set to begin on June 4.

Satterfield also found probable cause for murder in the second degree for Iverson, as well as aggravated assault and being a convicted felon and in possession of a handgun. He also pleaded not guilty and his trial was set for May 7.